The Domestic Companies Index (DCI) of the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) this past week continued its downwards trend, recording a 0.62 percent fall by close of business on Friday. The dip marks a 3.32 percent fall in year to year trade. Weekly capital markets figures show that during the past week, about 11 million shares worth of P37.3 million exchanged hands at the local bourse.
Financial analysts at Motswedi Securities say the downtrend could be linked to some heavy weights who are going through some profit taking phase. The BSE data shows that Pan African micro financier, Letshego traded about 61 percent of the weekly volumes while petroleum giant, Engen leaped up by 1 percent following the declaration of a special dividend.
In the financial field, Barclays Bank Botswana firmed by 0.7 percent to close the week at 455 thebe despite trading on caution. The bank recently issued a statement confirming that its consolidated profits for 2015 will be lower than the previous year. Another leading bank, FNBB released its interim results which reflected a 15 percent decline in Profit after Tax (PAT) and a marginal growth in its loan book.
Meanwhile BSE’s Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) also closed on the upside. Bettabeta soared by 7.4 percent to trade at 3625thebe per unit while Newgold and Newplat pocketed 3.6 percent and 2 percent trading at 13000thebe and 10300thebe per unit respectively.
However available data shows that the performance of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) was better in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter in 2014. The BSE’s market performance report for up to the period ended 10 April 2015 shows improvement in liquidity in ETFs, as indicated by turnover.
The BSE market review for the period showed BettaBeta ETF experienced significant inflows which generated a total turnover of P85.8 million in 2015. On the other hand, trades in NewGold ETF amounted to P25.8 million whereas the NewPlat ETF generated trades valued at P23.6 million. ETFs are popular for their high liquidity due to the presence of a market maker.
